Sailing Long, but Not Far

“A man may abide long in the luorld till he be eaten out of life by his owtt rust, or droppeth like rotten fruit; but he ca7inot be said to have a long life; as a matt may be lo?tg at sea, but if he is driven to and fro by the waves he cannot be said to maize a lo7ig voyage when he is at last drive Ji back hito the port out of which he sailed at first P Yes, life is not to be measured by mere lapse of time, but by the real headway which a man makes. The mass of mankind voyage to no known port, but are the sport of winds and waves. Compass or chart they no more consult than do the sea-birds or the dolphins. Thus it happens that in advanced years men are no forwarder than in youth, for they never continue in one line, having no object before them: they have not lived, but existed. Nothing has been attempted, much less accomplished; their years have rusted them into infirmity, but otherwise they are unaltered. Here’s the respect which makes calamity of so much wasted life.

O my blessed Lord, preserve thy servant from spending his sojourn here after the manner of the idler. Let mine be a real life. May I not be a mere strainer of meat and drink, or a walking clothes-horse, or a cypher; but may I so live on earth that it may seem wise to thee to bid me continue my life for -ever.